Crossroads
by DangerousNightmare
Summary: It was fear of the marauders that had Severus dangling his leg over the train tracks that day, and although he should hate them more for it he didn't. All because it was at that moment that he met her: the girl who would eventually fight his battles, love him like no one else would, and change the course of history itself.
1. Train Tracks

**Hello readers! This is the official rewrite of "Crossroads", quite a bit has changed character wise, but the plot is all the same. This story will have its ups and downs, so there may be some sensitive material in the future, which will be indicated with appropriate warnings. I hope you all enjoy this story, and if you do please leave me a review!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

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 **Crossroads Chapter one- Train Tracks**

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Severus imagined that pain was a being that found humor in following him his entire life, it laughed at his tears and tended to the blossom of depression that wrapped sweetly around his mind. Sometimes it took the form of his father, who thought magic could be repressed using his fists. Other times it took the collective form of four boys who called themselves the Marauders, all of them set out to make his life as miserable as humanly possible. Wherever he went it followed, and as he stared at the Hogwarts express he felt the reality of his situation.

There was no escape from pain.

With a sigh he hulled his luggage around on his cart and shoved his way through a sea of excited students, finding a place beyond the mob of people was a blessing and he found himself nearing the edge where the train tracks lay. Severus glanced down at the small drop, one could easily hop down and haul themselves back over with ease. A shriek sounded from his eagle owl, which glared at him with inky black eyes. "You're quite demanding for an animal." Severus stated lamely, the owl tapped roughly at her cage. "I apologize that you do not fancy the _exquisite_ cage I purchased for you with my own money." She blinked, then ruffled her feathers

Severus glanced over at the train tracks again, and with a shrug he slowly approached the ledge, one careful foot after the other. He teetered on the edge and grimaced at the thought of letting the massive train roll over his body at a painfully slow pace, but the thought of being free from the lingering hold of pain and the fear of the Marauders made him suspend one leg over the ledge. He held it there for a moment, and considered how easy it would be to let go. But his issues were never that easy to get rid of, a large black kneazle made sure of that this time. It butted its large fluffy black head on his leg and caused him to lose balance, he stomped his suspended leg on the ground and glared at the obnoxious creature.

"What the hell?" Severus looked around in agitation and spotted a girl with unruly brown hair heading in his direction, the knealze meowed softly and continued to rub its body on his legs. It was uncomfortably tall, and almost reached his knees.

"I'm so sorry about Octavious, he doesn't really care for pet carriers." The girl with the curly hair looked at him apologetically with honey colored eyes, then dipped down and collected her kneazle in her arms, it was a wonder how she could carry a thing so large. Severus expected the girl to leave like most people would, but she stayed and smiled softly at him. "My name is Hermione Lovegood. I don't suppose you were just trying to throw yourself on the tracks?" The question came at a bit of a surprise and Severus couldn't control the shame that found its way to his face. "Don't worry, I've found myself looking to do the same a few times." She said softly, the kneazle in her arms wriggled out of her grip and fell to the floor in an explosion of black fur. It looked at Severus again and meowed, it's wide green eyes looking at him in wonder.

"You don't look like a Lovegood." The words came tumbling out of his mouth, but it was true. Almost every Lovegood had the same platinum blonde hair, fair skin, and wide blue or green eyes. This girl was almost the complete opposite, and by the look on her face she seemed to know it.

"No, I don't. Are you going to tell me your name or should I just call you train tracks?" She asked.

"You don't have to call me anything." Severus grumbled, he pushed past the girl and stood close to his luggage, his eagle owl hooted at him, she switched her gaze and looked behind him. Severus sighed and turned around, the girl was still lingering by the train tracks, her kneazle was once again captured in her arms, and she was looking down at the tracks.

Those crazy curls nearly covered her entire face, which was quite lovely. Her features softened as she closed her eyes, her animal shoved it's head under her head as an affectionate gesture. Her mouth was turned into a frown and her eyebrows pulled together, Severus felt something inside of him stir as he stared at the girl, and his trance was only broken when the train released a high pitched whistle. The girl- Hermione Lovegood opened her eyes and turned her honey gaze towards him, in that moment he realized two things: She wasn't from Hogwarts- he would have remembered those eyes, and there was a chance that pain followed her too.

It was hard walking away from Hermione, but he gripped his luggage cart and forced himself away from her, she didn't need his pain and he didn't need hers. Hermione was friendly enough and her entire family was known to be sorted into Ravenclaw, so she probably wouldn't end up in Slytherin and he would never speak to her again, he tried to convince himself that he was okay with this as he boarded the train.

When he made his way to his cabin he scooted to the far end by the window and propped his head on his hand as he stared out at the nearly empty station, late students scrambled to get on the train, causing him to snicker. One student with red hair like fire caught his attention, Severus jumped up when he realized that it was his friend Lily Evans, he watched as she stumbled towards the train and swung herself in at the last minute. Severus let out a sigh of relief and slouched in his seat, he tapped his foot while he waited for her and when she walked into the cabin he cocked an eyebrow.

"Don't judge Sev." Lily let out an exasperated breath and plopped into her seat across from him, her cheeks flushed a pretty rose color and her green eyes seemed to glow.

"That's five years in a row, I think you like being late at this point." Severus grinned at his friend, who rolled her eyes wrapped her long hair into a bun, leaving only a few strands to tease her neck and frame her face.

"I do not enjoy being late, I had to walk past _them_ on the way here." Lily crossed her arms and huffed, she was referring to the Marauders. Specifically James Potter, who was clearly interested in her.

"Did they-"

"No they didn't mess with me, they were too busy hounding over the new girl." Lily picked at her nails as she explained "Apparently she's Ravenclaw bound, you know, because she's a Lovegood and all."

"How did you even hear about that? You just got here."

"Well you see, when one makes friends they tend to hear about said things at a relativity faster rate than people who choose to befriend potions textbooks." Severus cringed at his friend and avoided her look.

"Well, potion textbooks can't throw hexes at me."

"I don't throw hexes at you." Lily caught his gaze and smiled softly.

"You should." James Potter, swept into the cabin with silent ease, he stood close to Lily and eyed her with icy blue eyes. He didn't look at Severus, but the smirk on his face told him that he was pleased to see that his spell rendered Severus's hair slick with grease for an entire summer. Severus fought the urge to touch his hair.

"James please go torture someone else." Lily glared up at the boy and grabbed for her elegant wand, which she rolled around in her hand.

"Now Lillian, I know you look all sexy when you're angry, but please. There's no reason to curse my handsome friend here, he's just trying to make small talk sweetheart." Sirius Black lazed into the cabin and placed his hands on his friends shoulders, he winked at Lily and flashed her a toothy smile.

"It's Lily, not Lillian, and don't call me sweetheart." Lily hissed, her knuckles turned white as she gripped her wand.

"What shall I call you then?" Sirius exclaimed, James brushed out of his friend's grip and stepped closer to Lily, who scooted away.

"You should be a Gryffindor, and hang out with us." James urged, he extended a hand towards her. Anticipating for her to finally take it after five years of pathetic begging.

"I could call you baby cakes…"

"In your dreams Potter." Lily used her free hand to swat his hand away, then crossed her arms.

"Kitty cat..."

"I do dream about it, all the time." James purred.

"Honey bun..."

"You're disgusting!" Lily screeched.

"Oh how about pumpkin spice, you sassy little-" James held his hand out to Sirius, who frowned and crossed his arms.

" _I'm_ disgusting? You hang out with a Slytherin Lily! He's not one of us and he's bringing you down." James yelled, his face turned red, and his yells alerted the other two Marauders who came scrambling into the room. The one that looked like a rat, Peter, pointed his crooked wand at Severus and sneered. Remus lingered in the background, he was the only one that never taunted Severus, but his brain was the one that came up with all the pranks. He was no better than the rest.

"Something wrong James?" Peter spat, he inched closer, and was a breath away from poking Severus in the eye with his wand.

"Leave him alone!" Lily cried, her hand shook as she whipped her wand out at James. "Make Peter stop!"

"I don't control what Peter does." James said with a smirk.

"Peter cut it out." Remus placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, who shrugged it off with a huff.

"Get out of here man." Peter grumbled, but suddenly his face went pale and his ears started to elongate into perfect rat ears, severus gasped and withheld a laugh that threatened to escape his mouth.

"What the actual hell?" James sputtered, Sirius stood next to him, openly laughing, Remus looked around in confusion. It seemed that all at once the entire cabin of students looked towards the hallway, where a curly haired girl stood with her wand raised, and her large lion like kneazle sat at her feet. Hermione Lovegood gave Peter rat ears, and her face was eerily calm about it, with a shrug she sheathed her wand and walked away, she didn't even spare a single word of explanation.

"Dude, the new girl just gave you rat ears." Sirius said between snickers. "You look ridiculous."

"What are you waiting for? Change them back!" Peter yelled, he clasped his hands over his ears and looked at James in horror.

In a smooth motion James waved his wand, and uttered a spell that reduced Peter's ears back to normal, he then put the wand away and crossed his arms. "Let's go." He spared Lily one last glance before leaving the cabin, the three remaining Marauders trailing behind him.

When they were gone Lily let out a sigh of relief and released her grip on her wand, she glanced over at Severus with wide eyes. "I don't know who that girl is, but she literally just declared war with the Marauders."

"Yeah, I guess she did." Severus was still looking out at the hallway as she said this and he felt agitation prick at him. That girl had absolutely no reason to come here and mess with his torturers, and it bothered him that he didn't even know where she came from. _Who are you?_

That question irked him during his entire train ride to Hogwarts, and while he passively commented on the things Lily would say, he wondered if he would ever solve the mystery that was Hermione Lovegood.

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 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and hopefully those who read "Crossroads" before the rewrite will still enjoy the story. Please leave me a review, and as always, thank you for reading.**


	2. Smoke

**Hello readers! If you had any concerns about this story glitching out please make a visit to my profile! Happy memorial day, and I wish I had a better way to honor our fallen soldiers, but all I can do is offer my deepest gratitude.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, but my favorite half- kneazle Octavius belongs to me.**

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Crossroads Chapter two- Smoke

"A mess of beautiful contradictions make her whole, she wears fire for skin but a storm lives in her soul." -Nikita Gill

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She was from France, and recently moved to England to connect with the other side of her family. Her familiar was only half-keazle, the other part was unknown because she found him wandering the streets of Paris, and apparently she liked to read. Lily managed to get all of that information before they even made it through the castle doors.

Severus sank into his seat on his ghostly carriage, and like every year he silently wondered what enchantment caused them to move on their own, he felt his eyelids droop with drowsiness. Across from him Lily sat upright, she wound her wand through her hands and tapped her foot in excitement.

"Why do you bother to get so excited over a girl that you will probably never talk to?" Severus grumbled. "Everyone is acting like she's a brand new display in a zoo exhibit."

"Sev, you know I resent zoos, and to answer your question, she's _interesting._ When was the last time that we could approach someone that knows _nothing_ about us? She hasn't heard any rumors, seen any embarrassing accidents, and most importantly she has no friends that she can run off with." Lily waved her arms for effect, which caught some confused stares from the carriages of students surrounding them. "She's a breath of fresh air, and I am determined to get to know her. Especially since she stood up to the Marauders for… well, I guess it was for us."

"She doesn't know us Lily, and yes, she stood up to the Marauders. That's one of the reasons why we should stay away from her, she messed with the Marauders and now she's their target. I'm not trying to get mixed up with that, so you can be friends with her, but don't bring her around me. I deserve a hiatus from the Marauders." Severus muttered, he saw the hurt cross Lily's features but he would stick true to his word, if the Lovegood girl wanted to take on the wrath of the Marauders so be it, but the two would never be friends.

Lily stayed quiet after that, but he could feel the disapproval radiating off of her. There was no doubt that she would recruit the Lovegood girl as a friend, Severus sighed as the reality of the situation settled in.

"We're here." the carriage slowed to a stop and Severus helped Lily get down, she turned to face him and bobbed her eyebrows as the Lovegood girl swept past them, her kneazle still by her side. "I bet that she's going to be a Gryffindor." Lily cheered.

"Oh no kitty cat, that black sheep is headed straight to Slytherin with your little grease-ball friend." Sirius Black swept up to Lily just as Severus stepped off the carriage, he glared at raven haired boy, who responded with a cocky grin.

"Listen dog, go follow James and leave us alone." Lily hissed, she grabbed Severus' hand and led them away from the boy, but that didn't stop Sirius from following them.

"Kitty cat and dog, we're like a forbidden couple, and while that gives me all types of fantasies I have to ask. How do you two know our little black sheep Lovegood?" Sirius kept pace with them and followed closely next to Lily. "Now we all know she turned sweet little Peter into a rat, and she honestly did a great job, those ears were on point!" Sirius exclaimed, he flung his arms wide as soon as they entered the castle and grinned wickedly. "She did it for a _reason_ and we- your friendly neighborhood Marauders, want to know why. You see James assumed that it was because you two managed to somehow turn her into an acquaintance, and well, I know that that's bullshit."

Lily glanced at Severus in confusion, Sirius laughed at her look and pointed at her. "This is why I like you kitty cat, you agree with me without words. So here is what's going to happen, I tell James that you two had nothing to do with Peter's little "incident" and we will leave you and little grease boy alone."

"Okay?" Lily approached the great hall and released Severus' hand. "What's the catch?"

"Don't try to save her when we bring her down." Sirius lost his smile and his face twisted into a scowl, then he walked away towards the Gryffindor table.

"What the hell was that?" Severus whisper yelled it at Lily, who looked equally shocked. "Does he have issues?"

"No, I think that's just Sirius, I have to go now, be nice to the first years."

 _Nice to the first years, that's funny._

Severus rolled his eyes and crossed over to his table, no one greeted him, and few attempted to make eye contact with him. Of all the Slytherin students, he was the most feared after Lucius graduated, but he was also the most respected because he took on most of the abuse from the Marauders. A few of his classmates scooted over to give him room so he could sit down, then they all turned their attention to Albus Dumbledore, who quietly stood from his seat. Everyone fell silent as he approached his podium, the first years gazed at the richly robed wizard in wonder, Severus felt like falling asleep.

"Students, old and new." He winked down at the first years and smiled. "I welcome you all to Hogwarts, as your headmaster I will go over a few rules that you all must follow. After that we may begin our festivities."

Severus sighed and looked around the room, the first years looked like they were frozen in wonder, and professor McGonagall looked rather giddy. As she entered the room a student followed close behind, all he had to do was catch a small glimpse of curly hair to know that it was the Lovegood girl. She looked far less excited than the professor next to her, a frown was etched on her face and she held her hands clasped together in front of her. It looked like she was about to serve detention rather then getting sorted into a house, Severus looked on silently and was sure that Lily was doing the same.

"… and lastly try to avoid the fireblossoms, they are quite explosive in the fall months. Okay students, keep those rules in mind during the school year, and let's turn our attention to professor McGonagall." Scattered applause broke out after Dumbledore finally finished his list, though everyone seemed to distracted by Lovegood to fully show their appreciation for the headmaster.

"Students, we will have to start this sorting ceremony in a slightly unconventional way, we have a transfer student who will be attending this school for her fifth year and possibly beyond that. She must be sorted into a house before the first years, so Miss Hermione Lovegood please approach the stool." Professor McGonagall picked up the sorting hat from the stool and waved Hermione over, the girl took one look at the tiny chair and opted to stand while the professor shakily rested it on her head. The hat shifted slightly and let out a groan.

"Ah, it's the beginning of the year already? Oh, and I see that we are starting with an older student this year." The hat shook on her head as it spoke and it seemed to have a wicked smile pressed permanently on its face. "Hermione Lovegood, you are a peculiar one for your type. Lovegoods that I've sorted before have had a more… hidden display of intelligence. Yours is bold and proud, but you're not a Ravenclaw, that is clear." A murmur of disappointment traveled throughout the Ravenclaw table, some protests were yelled out, but were silenced by one of the staff members. "You show that you're brave, but you're clever for reasons that I likely can't say, so I think that you'll make a fine addition amongst." The hat paused and seemed to look right at Severus, he shuddered as it's grin grew wider. "SLYTHERIN!"

The Lovegood girl carefully removed the hat and blushed slightly as the entire Slytherin table broke out in cheers, Severus was too shocked to move his hands. _What did that ridiculous hat just say?_

Professor McGonagall started to name off more first years as the Lovegood girl walked away, he could tell that the professor was disappointed that she wouldn't be in her house.

He turned and searched for Lily, he felt a pang when he noticed how sad she looked while she watched the girl take her spot amongst the Slytherins, she truly wanted her as a friend. A couple of seats away Sirius and Peter stared after the same girl, Peter was frowning and Sirius looked on with enthusiasm. James and Remus sat out of Severus' view but he was sure that they were also watching her like a bunch of hawks.

"I know that she's going to get demolished because of it, but I have to respect the new girl. I'm proud to say that Hermione Lovegood, the girl who turned Peter Pettigrew into a rat, is in my house." A boy with silvery hair next to him declared this and sneered at the Gryffindor table, Slytherin students around him nodded in agreement to his statement. She truly was one of the few who was bold enough to stand up to the Marauders, Severus leaned over the table and spotted her sitting near the front , a frown was once again plastered on her face.

"She could take them down you know, there's just something about her that seems… powerful." A girl with dyed purple hair commented.

"Not on her own, I don't care how powerful she is.." Someone else commented, Severus didn't see who said it because he was too fixated on her. Something changed after he left her at the train station, she was incredibly bright and inviting when he first saw her. Now it was like someone put a dark blanket over her, the girl with the purple hair was right. She did look powerful and she also looked lethal.

"That's it for this year's sorting ceremony, I encourage that you all get to know and help each other. Your house is your family for the next seven years, and possibly even beyond." Professor McGonagall finished her small speech and then looked over to Dumbledore.

"Let the feast begin." the headmaster spread his arms wide then sat down at his table, as soon as he did so, food popped onto the dinning tables and students frantically started piling food onto their plates. Severus yanked his eyes away from the Lovegood girl and went to spoon some potatoes on his plate, but as soon as he grazed his fingers along the spoon he felt fire climb up his arms. He grabbed his hand away, and yelled, but that was drowned out by the panicked shrieks of the entire Slytherin house. Students fell out of their seats as the entire table went up in flames and Severus batted at his robes, which had caught on fire.

"Get away from the table!"Professor McGonagall's voice rang above the startled screams, the other houses jumped to their feet and whipped out their wands. Once he put the flames out Severus grabbed at his own and tried to wipe at his burning eyes at the same time, when he opened his eyes he could only see black smoke.

"Aguamenti!" he joined the mass of students using the same spell to extinguish the flames, all of the teachers were doing the same, prefects herded younger students out of the halls. Severus felt a bump against his shoulder, he didn't have to look to see that it was Lily. They went on for ten minutes before the flames finally died, the students who stayed behind to help huddled together and stared sadly at the charred table. Some left shortly after because of the smoke, Severus noticed that the Lovegood girl stayed to help, her hair looked singed on one side, and her robes were soaked. Dumbledore whispered amongst the other teachers, he raised his voice a few times, his face red from anger. Before long all of the students started leaving one by one, Severus left with Lily, and the only student left after them was the Lovegood girl.

Severus didn't see her for the rest of the night. Though, she never left his mind once, her honey colored eyes seemed to be permanently branded into his mind.

 _Who are you Hermione Lovegood?_

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 **That's it for this chapter! How do you like this story so far? Thank you to everyone who has viewed, reviewed, favored, and followed this story!**


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